The invention relates generally to mass storage devices and more particularly to a method of using mass storage devices with graphical user interfaces and remote access type applications.
In the early days of computers, operating systems provided few file system tools. Of course, since most early computer systems supported only a small number of storage devices, manual searching for a particular file was not uncommon or onerous. For example, to locate a particular file, one would know the identifier for a devicexe2x80x94A: in MS DOSE(copyright)xe2x80x94and based on the identifier, one could request a directory listing. Listing of each available device, A:, B:, C:, D: etc. was done until there were no more devices or the desired file was found.
Because the above method has an efficiency relating to the size and number of devices, tools were developed to automatically catalogue contents of a disk for a user to peruse. These tools would provide a single listing of all files that could be sorted or searched by a user.
With the proliferation of the graphical user interface, tools such as find file and file management utilities have become the norm. These tools are very valuable tools for day to day use of computer systems. Unfortunately, when a computer has a large number of devices attached thereto, these tools require extensive amounts of system resources in order to manage the devices. Also, when the devices are removable, it is common that the tools cannot recognise that the device is or is not present at a given moment.
Conventional operating systems change a file access path to a removable media when the media is moved from one drive, device and/or PC to another. Unfortunately, with removable media, it is quite difficult to ensure that a removable medium is always returned to a same device. Since removable media are often removedxe2x80x94replaced by other removable mediaxe2x80x94when they are needed again, the replacement media may still be required and a different device is therefore used.
When media is moved from one drive to another, its file access path changes. In a volatile environment, where devices are swapped frequently, the file access path changes frequently. Thus, to access a same file requires different identifiers each time the media is replaced in a different device. However, many applications store complete paths and expect this path will not change. If such as application looks for a file and the device identifier in the form of a drive letter for Windows NT(copyright), has changed, it will not be able to locate the file.
Also, with the proliferation of broadband communications, it has become common that access to a computer system is provided to a larger base of users. The Internet is a commonly available example of this. On the Internet, there are sites devoted to information dissemination. Some of these sites have a considerable amount of proprietary information. In order to provide users access to information within a site, two methods are commonly employed. First, the information is stored in a public directory, which can be accessed by anyone. This is effective when copying of the information is expected. A user accessing the site can copy the entire contents of the site to his or her own storage medium. Obviously, this is not always desired. A second common method is to use a software program to retrieve the information and provide it to the users. Commonly, the data accessed by the software application is also accessible to the users. Therefore, once again, the data can be found and copied.
It would be advantageous to provide a method of storing publicly accessible data that is difficult or impossible to access absent the use of a software interface provided at or by the information source.
In order to overcome these and other limitations of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of storing immediately accessible data that is not recognised by the system tools within a Windows NT(copyright) system.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method of accessing a removable storage medium from a computer system in execution of an operating system having a plurality of file system commands and at least a file system tool, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a removable storage medium;
mounting the removable storage medium such that it is accessible through some file system commands but inaccesible through a file system tool from the file system tools; and,
performing at least one of storing data to and retrieving data from the removable storage medium while it is mounted.
In accordance with the invention there is further provided a method of storing data from a computer system to a removable storage medium comprising the steps of:
mounting the removable storage medium on the computer system, the removable storage medium mounted with an identifier recognisable by the file system but unrecognisable by the system tools;
storing data using the identifier, the data stored within the removable storage medium.
In accordance with the invention there is also provided a method of accessing a removable storage medium from a computer system in execution of an operating system having a plurality of file system commands and at least a file system tool. The method comprises the following steps:
providing a removable storage medium; and,
mounting the removable storage medium. The step of mounting the storage medium comprises the following steps:
when a newly inserted removable storage medium is detected, reading from the removable storage medium an identifier
determining a presence of a symbolic link for the identifier;
when a symbolic link exists, updating the symbolic link to reflect the physical path to the storage medium;
when the symbolic link does not exist, creating a symbolic link from the identifier to the storage medium, the symbolic link to a non-standard storage medium; and,
performing at least one of storing data to and retrieving data from the removable storage medium while it is mounted.